A journalist helps Fredericks and the dissident leader Qi, who is due to give birth soon, escape back to Earth.

They are pursued by Chinese authorities who believe that Qi will lead a revolution of disaffected workers and displaced migrants to overthrow the Party leadership.

After a series of chases and escapes, Fredericks and Qi return to the Moon, where they encounter a wealthy Chinese businessman building his own ideal colony and visit free settlers creating a lunar city outside government control.

[1] Jason Sheehan of NPR criticized the book's emphasis on exposition and digressions into discussions of the environment, politics, and orbital mechanics, suggesting that Robinson's approach was "no way to tell a story".

[3] The Times criticized the "great indigestible tracts of expository dialogue" and "horrible doldrum of narrative drift", but concluded that Red Moon "confirms its author's status as a sci-fi master".